Crowning one rib at a time

[Farrell]

> Hi Terry.  Yes, tho you used pneumatic presses yes ?

Yes.

> Just comparing notes really as usual... you know me :)  So far, I like the 
> looks of those aluminum bars that David Love came up with best...

David's are real nice as I recall (been a while....). If you are 
contemplating building a couple presses, check out Will Truits and Jude 
Reveley's - they also made their's with metal frames - much less bulky than 
mine - very nice indeed.

> tho I've yet to try ribbing my own panel so its hard to say what the 
> experience would point me towards.  First time around I suppose I'd be all 
> worried about the ribs slipping and sliding around and would want some fix 
> idea for how to dead on prevent that.

Tear a rib off your Bluthner - out towards the ends of the ribs, you'll find 
a short section of small bridge pin half way through the panel and rib. 
Works like a charm. Get 'em in the right place at first, and you are home 
free. Without some sort of pins, you can shoot a rib clear across the shop - 
trust me!

> Finnally getting the French Polish on that Bluthner finished.  I got so 
> much <<standard>> work to do all the time I never get the time to finish 
> the darn project.  Action got finally re-furbished this summer.... tho I 
> still am unsure as to what to do about the keybed falling away just under 
> the front rail.  I have for the time being a rather thick piece of spruce 
> shimming tacked on under the front rail of the action to make solid 
> contact so essentially the keyframe is bedded well enough.  But really the 
> keybed should come off and be replaced.
>
> I suppose at some point I'm going to have to decide to jump in with all 
> fours into rebuilding (which I actually do enjoy immensely) or leave it 
> and stay on concert prep & tuning work and action rebuilds... which is 
> very profitable and enjoyable as well... ahhh... always some annoying 
> choice thing out there in front of you... :)

Pleasant problems indeed!

Terry Farrell


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Brekne" <ricb at pianostemmer.no>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 7:15 PM
Subject: Crowning one rib at a time


> Hi Terry.  Yes, tho you used pneumatic presses yes ?  Just comparing notes 
> really as usual... you know me :)  So far, I like the looks of those 
> aluminum bars that David Love came up with best... tho I've yet to try 
> ribbing my own panel so its hard to say what the experience would point me 
> towards.  First time around I suppose I'd be all worried about the ribs 
> slipping and sliding around and would want some fix idea for how to dead 
> on prevent that.
>
> Finnally getting the French Polish on that Bluthner finished.  I got so 
> much <<standard>> work to do all the time I never get the time to finish 
> the darn project.  Action got finally re-furbished this summer.... tho I 
> still am unsure as to what to do about the keybed falling away just under 
> the front rail.  I have for the time being a rather thick piece of spruce 
> shimming tacked on under the front rail of the action to make solid 
> contact so essentially the keyframe is bedded well enough.  But really the 
> keybed should come off and be replaced.
>
> I suppose at some point I'm going to have to decide to jump in with all 
> fours into rebuilding (which I actually do enjoy immensely) or leave it 
> and stay on concert prep & tuning work and action rebuilds... which is 
> very profitable and enjoyable as well... ahhh... always some annoying 
> choice thing out there in front of you... :)
>
> Cheers
> RicB
>
>
>    Richard - that's basically how your Bluthner laminated board was 
> ribbed.
>
>    Terry Farrell
>
>
>
>         > Ah... so its not so much a matter of crowning the board
>        itself  rib by rib
>         > as it is a matter of installing ribs one at a time due to
>        space concerns
>         > and the ability to reposition ribs on the fly...  yes ??  I
>        understand you
>         > dry your panels down quite a bit before installing the ribs.
>        How much
>         > working time do you allow for in getting all ribs positioned
>        and pressured
>         > after the panel comes out of the box ?
>         >
>         > I'd love to see a picture of your basic setup. We've seen
>        several variants
>         > posted here through the past few years.  The more the
>        merrier... and the
>         > more enlightening as it were.
>         >
>         > Thanks for the reply
>         > RicB
>